All and Every

Every = all without exception

All (+determiner)+ plural = Every + singular

  • All children need love/ Every child needs love
  • All cities are noisy/ Every city is noisy
  • Please switch off all the lights/ Please switch off every light
  • I’ve written to all my friends/ I’ve written to every friend I have (not… every my friend)

All + uncountable nouns (not every)

  • I like all music (not.. every music)

All or Every + singular countable nouns = every part of/ the whole of

  • She was here all day (from morning to night)
  • She was here every day (=Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…, Sunday)

– Negative sentences= Not all/every + noun + affirmative verb

  • Not all Scottish people drink whisky
  • Not every student passed the exam

II.

We use every + singular noun (every house / every country etc.):

  • Alice has been to every country in Europe.
  • Every summer we have a holiday by the sea.
  • She looks different every time I see her.

Use a singular verb after every

  • Every house in the street is the same, (not ‘are the same’)
  • Every country has a national flag, (not ‘have’)

Compare every and all:

  • Every student in the class passed the exam
    All the students in the class passed the exam
  • Every country has a national flag.
    All countries have a national flag.

every day and all day

every day = on all days:

  • how often? EVERY DAY=SUN + WON + TUE + WED + THUR + FRI + SAT
  • A: How often do you read a newspaper? B: Every day.
  • Bill watches TV for about two hours every evening. (= on all evenings)

all day = the complete day:

how long? ALL DAY=Beginning of the day–>End of the dav

  • The weather was bad yesterday. It rained all day.
  • I was tired after work yesterday, so I watched TV all evening. (= the complete evening)

Use a singular verb after everybody/everyone/everything:

  • Everybody has problems, (not ‘Everybody have’)